Himachal Court Directs Shutdown Of 18 State-Run Loss-Making Hotels To Fight Fund Crunch

Himachal Court Directs Shutdown Of 18 State-Run Loss-Making Hotels To Fight Fund Crunch
The Himachal High Court has ordered the closure of 18 state-run loss-making hotels to reduce the burden on the government exchequer. Justice Ajay Mohan Goel, presiding over a single-judge bench, ordered that 18 Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC)-owned hotels should be shut down by November 25 and held the Managing Director (MD) of the corporation personally responsible for ensuring compliance.
The court termed these properties “white elephants”. Justice Goel in his order said that the continued functioning of these properties is a burden on the state exchequer as they had very little occupancy.”The continuation of functioning of these properties…is nothing but a burden on the exchequer of the State and the court can take judicial notice of the fact that there is a financial crunch which is daily being propagated by the state in the matters being listed before the court involving finances,” the court said.Allu Arjun’s Pushpa The Rise will be re-released in Hindi a few weeks prior to Pushpa The Rule’s theatrical debut.
“In order to ensure that public resources are not wasted by the Tourism Development Corporation in the upkeep of these white elephants, it is hereby ordered that the following properties of the Tourism Development Corporation shall be closed forthwith w.e.f. 25.11.2024, as running of these properties is not financially viable as of now….,” it added.
Court Allows Sale Of Delhi Himachal Bhavan
Earlier this week, the high court issued an order attaching Himachal Bhavan in Delhi after the Congress-led Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government failed to pay electricity dues amounting to around Rs 150 crore. Himachal Bhavan is located at Mandi House in the national capital.According to an Ookla analysis, the iPhone 16 has the fastest 5G download speeds worldwide.
What Himachal Govt Said
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has announced plans to challenge the decision in the Supreme Court. However, there is no update on how the state intends to address its debt repayments and manage its expenses.Reacting to the High Court order Himachal Pradesh Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi said that if these hotels were not doing financially well, alternative steps could be taken.
“The HPTDC hotels were built at a time when the govt wanted to encourage tourism. Only after reading the court order, I can say what message we want to give by closing down these hotels. These are properties located at prime locations. If any of these properties are not doing well financially, then we should work on it,” The Minister also expressed worry over the potential loss of jobs to people working in the hotels.
List Of Hotels Directed Closure
The hotels ordered closure include The Palace Hotel Chail, Hotel Geetanjali Dalhousie, Hotel Baghal Dadlaghat, Hotel Dhauladhar Dharamshala, Hotel Kunal Dharamshala, Hotel Kashmir House Dharamshala, Hotel Apple Blossom Fagu, Hotel Chandrabhaga Keylong, Hotel Deodar Khajjiar, Hotel Giriganga Kharapathar, Hotel Meghdoot Kyarighat, Hotel Sarvari Kullu, Hotel Log Huts Manali, Hotel Hadimba Cottage Manali, Hotel Kunjum Manali, Hotel Bhagsu McLeodganj, Hotel The Castle Naggar Kullu, and Hotel Shivalik Parwanoo.After a steep decline, gold prices reached a one-week high; check the prices of gold and silver in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and other cities on November 21.